A variety of circuits are known in the art for driving diode switches which use, for example, PIN diodes. One such circuit is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,710,145 issued to R. T. Williamson et al on Jan. 9, 1973 which relates to switching circuitry for semiconductor diodes especially for use in phase shifters of a phased array antenna which are controlled by a beam steering computer. The disclosed driver amplifier includes a delay circuit, an amplifying section connected to the output of the delay circuit, a first NPN output power transistor coupled to the output of the amplifying section, a second NPN output power transistor coupled to the collector feedpath of the first output power transistor in a "totem pole" arrangement which changes states in response to a state change of the first output power transistor, and a discharging transistor coupled to the input of the first output power transistor which operates to quickly remove a storage charge thereon and cause the first output power transistor into cut-off.
An article entitled "PIN-Driver Design Saves Time" by C. J. Georgopoulos in Microwaves, Vol. 11, No. 8, August 1972 at pp. 50-55 discloses driver circuit arrangements which use two or more transistors in a complementary arrangement or "totem pole" type arrangement. In the disclosed two transistor complementary arrangements, an NPN and PNP transistor are serially connected, with the two collectors being both interconnected and coupled to the diode switch, and each emitter is coupled through a resistor to a separate polarity of a voltage source. Each base is coupled both to a separate input signal source and through a separate resistor to the emitter of the associated transistor. In operation when one of the transistors is conducting the diode switch is forward-biased and when the other transistor is made conductive the diode switch is back-biased.
In an article "An Experimental MM-Wave Path Length Modulator" by W. J. Clemetson et al in The Bell System Technical Journal, Vol. 50, No. 9, November 1971 at pp. 2917-2945, in FIG. 18 there is disclosed a driver circuit for a PIN diode. The driver circuit of FIG. 18 comprises a step-recovery diode pulse generator, a high-speed flip-flop and a high-speed pulse amplifier.
In the book Microwave Diode Control Devices by R. V. Garver, Artech House, Inc., 1976, at Appendix F thereof, there is disclosed various arrangements for driver circuits for diode switches with one of such arrangements comprising a PNP and NPN transistor in a complementary arrangement with both transistors a-c coupled to the input.
Switching times of presently commercially available phase shifters in the 12 to 14 GHz band are usually in the 50 nanoseconds and above range and the power consumption of the combined phase shifter-driver is in the hundreds of milliwatts range for TTL compatible inputs such as, for example, memory outputs. For certain applications it is desirable to employ phase shifters which have switching times of, for example, 10 nanoseconds or less and a power consumption of less than 100 milliwatts. The problem remaining in the prior art is to provide a high-speed, low-power, TTL compatible driver for a diode switch which has the latter switching times and power consumption capabilities.